Cyanobacterial lipopolysaccharides and human health – a review

Cyanobacterial lipopolysaccharide/s (LPS) are frequently cited in the cyanobacteria literature as toxins responsible for a variety of heath effects in humans, from skin rashes to gastrointestinal, respiratory and allergic reactions. The attribution of toxic properties to cyanobacterial LPS dates from the 1970s, when it was thought that lipid A, the toxic moiety of LPS, was structurally and functionally conserved across all Gram-negative bacteria. However, more recent research has shown that this is not the case, and lipid A structures are now known to be very different, expressing properties ranging from LPS agonists, through weak endotoxicity to LPS antagonists. Although cyanobacterial LPS is widely cited as a putative toxin, most of the small number of formal research reports describe cyanobacterial LPS as weakly toxic compared to LPS from the Enterobacteriaceae. We systematically reviewed the literature on cyanobacterial LPS, and also examined the much lager body of literature relating to heterotrophic bacterial LPS and the atypical lipid A structures of some photosynthetic bacteria. While the literature on the biological activity of heterotrophic bacterial LPS is overwhelmingly large and therefore difficult to review for the purposes of exclusion, we were unable to find a convincing body of evidence to suggest that heterotrophic bacterial LPS, in the absence of other virulence factors, is responsible for acute gastrointestinal, dermatological or allergic reactions via natural exposure routes in humans. There is a danger that initial speculation about cyanobacterial LPS may evolve into orthodoxy without basis in research findings. No cyanobacterial lipid A structures have been described and published to date, so a recommendation is made that cyanobacteriologists should not continue to attribute such a diverse range of clinical symptoms to cyanobacterial LPS without research confirmation

Diagnóstico da qualidade analítica na quantificação de cianobactérias Diagnostic of analytical quality in quantification of cyanobacteria

O aumento de florações de cianobactérias em mananciais utilizados para abastecimento é uma preocupação global. Seguindo as diretrizes da Organização Mundial da Saúde, a portaria nº 518/2004 do Ministério da Saúde, determina o monitoramento de cianobactérias nos mananciais superficiais e, quando for o caso, na água tratada. No Brasil, não há padronização de métodos de análise; assim, os métodos utilizados devem fornecer resultados confiáveis. Por meio da participação voluntária, um programa de ensaios de proficiência em cianobactérias foi realizado em 2010. Este trabalho apresenta o diagnóstico do desempenho dos laboratórios na identificação e contagem de cianobactérias. Os resultados das contagens foram submetidos ao cálculo do escore z, obtendo-se 80% de laboratórios com desempenho satisfatório. Divergências foram observadas na identificação dos gêneros de cianobactérias.<br>The increase of cyanobacterial blooms in water sources used for supply is a global concern. Following the guidelines of the World Health Organization, ordinance nº 518/2004, the of the Ministry of Health, provides the monitoring of cyanobacteria in superficial water sources and, when appropriate, in treated water. In Brazil, there is no standardization of analysis methods; thus, the applied methods should provide reliable results. Through voluntary participation, a proficiency testing program in cyanobacteria was conducted in 2010. This paper presents the diagnostic performance of laboratories in identification and counting of cyanobacteria. Results of counts were subjected to the calculation of z-score, and 80% of laboratories presented satisfactory performance. Differences were observed in the identification of cyanobacterial genera